More muscle at Escapia

Not all former Expedia executives are landing at Zillow.com, the Seattle online real estate startup led by Rich Barton, Lloyd Frink and other Expedia veterans.

Steve Murch, who sold VacationSpot.com to Expedia in 2000 and then oversaw the online travel giant’s vacation package team, was recently appointed chairman of Escapia, according to this press release.

The appointment appears to be a natural fit (and not just because Escapia sounds a lot like Expedia).

Backed by Buerk Dale Victor, Escapia helps owners of vacation properties manage reservations, accounting, housekeeping, maintenance and other issues. VacationSpot.com, which was sold for about $82 million in stock, ran an online reservation network of some 25,000 vacation rentals.

Could this signal additional changes at the 6-year-old company?

I had heard that Escapia was planning to expand into the consumer arena this year, possibly adding an online reservation service.

The appointment of Murch — an innovator in online travel — would be a natural person to help lead that charge. The startup has added other executive horsepower in the past six months, including former Aventail Chief Financial Officer Chris Dukelow and former Amazon.com engineering veteran Matt Scaer.

I bumped into Escapia Chief Executive Chris Kemp at a dinner meeting a few weeks ago and he said the company is working on some exciting new services. He also said they are looking to raise $5 million in venture capital.

The VCs certainly have noticed. Following the event, OVP Venture Partners’ Lucinda Stewart was intrigued with the company’s financial performance. Madrona’s Greg Gottesman — whose firm was an early investor in VacationSpot.com — said his firm has been tracking the progress of the startup.

More muscle at Escapia

Not all former Expedia executives are landing at Zillow.com, the Seattle online real estate startup led by Rich Barton, Lloyd Frink and other Expedia veterans.

Steve Murch, who sold VacationSpot.com to Expedia in 2000 and then oversaw the online travel giant’s vacation package team, was recently appointed chairman of Escapia, according to this press release.

The appointment appears to be a natural fit (and not just because Escapia sounds a lot like Expedia).

Backed by Buerk Dale Victor, Escapia helps owners of vacation properties manage reservations, accounting, housekeeping, maintenance and other issues. VacationSpot.com, which was sold for about $82 million in stock, ran an online reservation network of some 25,000 vacation rentals.

Could this signal additional changes at the 6-year-old company?

I had heard that Escapia was planning to expand into the consumer arena this year, possibly adding an online reservation service.

The appointment of Murch — an innovator in online travel — would be a natural person to help lead that charge. The startup has added other executive horsepower in the past six months, including former Aventail Chief Financial Officer Chris Dukelow and former Amazon.com engineering veteran Matt Scaer.

I bumped into Escapia Chief Executive Chris Kemp at a dinner meeting a few weeks ago and he said the company is working on some exciting new services. He also said they are looking to raise $5 million in venture capital.

The VCs certainly have noticed. Following the event, OVP Venture Partners’ Lucinda Stewart was intrigued with the company’s financial performance. Madrona’s Greg Gottesman — whose firm was an early investor in VacationSpot.com — said his firm has been tracking the progress of the startup.